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“One Bank in Africa” strategy

Amman_Muhammad_profile_opt2.0Islamic banking heralds African expansion

Absa Islamic Banking is firmly entrenched in the South African Islamic financial services market. It is making inroads in sub-Saharan Africa and is recognised as a globally competitive player. The majority of Africa’s Muslim population, estimated at between 400 million and 500 million (which constitutes nearly 50% of the total population of the continent), is still unbanked.

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Mobile banking

ArnoduToitSouth Africa on the go

In case you hadn’t noticed, banking in South Africa is on the move. If Visa’s $110 million acquisition of Cape Town-based mobile banking infrastructure provider, Fundamo, didn’t get your attention, then FNB’s July launch of a range of mobile banking applications should have, writes Arno du Toit.

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Gold as value haven

Gold making a currency comeback?

Leon Alberts

The idea that the world’s leading economies should consider adopting a modified global gold standard as part of a new dispensation for international currency rates, first mooted in November last year by World Bank president Robert Zoellick, could gain new traction in the wake of the recent debt ceiling crisis in the United States.

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First Lady of international finance

christine-lagarde-1-14_fmt2.0Christine Lagarde is used to breaking new gender ground

Petra du Toit

When Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde (55) on 5 July this year became the 11th head of the 187-nation International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its 66-year existence, she merely continued what has become for her an impressive career of firsts. Although her gender might have played a role in her selection to the position in the wake of the sex scandal that surrounded the departure of her predecessor and countryman, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, there can be no doubt she brings a set of unique skills to the job during a crucial period in the history of the organisation.

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